How female entrepreneurs can improve their well-being by reclaiming their time, energy and life

Sasha Kore, the founder of the club of salon owners

When I opened my skin care clinic in Kettering in 2012, I couldn’t believe my dreams of being my own boss had come true.

I had everything that looked like success from the outside…a full agenda, happy clients, and a growing reputation. But behind closed doors I was £25,000 in debt, unable to pay myself a proper salary and so exhausted I could barely think.

I worked all the hours, did every treatment, solved every problem, and I wrapped myself so completely inside the business that it couldn’t function without me…or so I believed.

I worked hard in those early years of business. Part of it was grieving because I lost my mother in my early twenties, and that loss made clear to me the need to pursue the life I wanted, not wait for it. Starting my own business was one answer. And in many ways, that instinct was right. But I confused busyness with success and built something that was slowly consuming me.

I always felt tired, stressed, and always rushing to get to the end of my to-do list, which grew longer every week. I didn’t sleep well, ate sporadically on the road and hardly had time to move my body. The business was really affecting my well-being and something had to give.

The turning point came when I finally accepted that what I was doing wasn’t sustainable and invested in real business support for the first time. This decision changed everything. I went on to grow my clinic to over £1 million in revenue and most importantly, I created something I thought was impossible…. the freedom to really get away with it.

Since then, I have taken time for myself… to take care of my health physically and emotionally, to feel more relaxed, which is the ultimate reward for me.

Now, through the Salon Owners Club, I’m helping beauty, esthetics, hair and clinic business owners across the UK to do just that.

My world is the beauty industry, but my business advice applies to almost any service business. And if you’re a woman who runs a business—whether it’s a salon, consulting, studio, practice, or something else—chances are at least some of this will be very familiar.

The “full-on” trap that so many women fall into

I keep seeing women who are completely overseas, their clients love them, their social media looks great, and they’re barely breaking even behind the scenes. Being busy doesn’t equal being profitable, and being busy doesn’t equal being successful.

As women, many of us are conditioned to equate hard work and busyness with value. We wear our fatigue as a badge of honor. We feel guilty for wanting more and tell ourselves we should just be grateful.

But a business model in which you are the product – where your time, hands, energy are the only things that generate income – has a very hard ceiling that you will inevitably hit, usually at a time when you are already running on empty.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to stay that way. Here are five practical steps that can really start to change things for you, too.

Step 1: Be honest about your numbers

You can’t fix what you can’t look at! One of the first things I do with every client is sit down and look at the real financial picture. It’s not income, it’s real profit…what goes into your personal account after you pay everyone and everything else?

Most of the women who work with me are amazed. Turnover looks healthy, but when you take out overhead, wages, product and all the invisible costs, margins are wafer thin. This is where pricing becomes important, and this is an area where women in business often sell themselves short.

We charge less because we are afraid of losing clients, of being greedy, and of being told we are too expensive. But low cost does not keep good customers. It will attract the wrong people and bring you down in the process.

Step 2: Admit that you are the problem

It’s hard to hear, but if your business can’t run without you, you haven’t built a business – you’ve built yourself a very demanding job with no sick pay, no holidays, and no downtime.

Ask yourself honestly, what if you can’t get in tomorrow? If the answer is chaos, it’s a sign that you haven’t yet built the systems and team structure that allows you to push back.

Letting go can feel scary, and we often hold back because we believe no one else can do it the way we do, or because we feel responsible for everyone around us. But usually, it’s the story we tell ourselves that keeps us stuck.

Step 3: Build systems before you need them

Freedom comes from having systems that work when you’re not in the room. This means documented processes, clear standards your team can follow, and the right tools to keep track of everything without you having to keep it all in your head.

Start small. Identify a task that only you can do right now and work out how to get it done. Write it down, train someone, step back and let them work with it. Then do it again. Over time, you’ll build an operation that can actually run independently of you. And then everything feels different.

Step 4: Invest in your team and learn to trust them

You can’t delegate to people you don’t trust, and you can’t trust people you haven’t invested in. Building a team that works without constant supervision takes time, careful engagement, and a real commitment to the development of the women and men around you.

This is where many business owners get stuck in a frustrating cycle: they hire, feel frustrated, quit, and decide to do it all themselves. But with the right basics in place, your team can generate revenue for your business whether you’re there or not. This is what good business looks like.

Step 5: Create an income that is completely independent of you

One of the most powerful changes you can make is to create income streams that are completely independent of your time and labor. This could mean introducing retail products, online offers, training, memberships or services delivered by your team, not just you.

In a beauty or aesthetic clinic, this might look like developing a strong retail arm, creating treatment packages by the team, or creating an educational offering. In other businesses, the principle is the same – find ways for your experience and brand to generate income without you personally coming in for every pound.

Running a business doesn’t have to hurt your health! I learned the hard way, but you don’t have to. The freedom and sense of well-being you envisioned when you first started is still within your reach. I know because I found it – after years of believing I never wanted to. And the women I work with every day through the Salon Owners Club find it.

You don’t have to keep running on empty to prove that you deserve success….There is a new way of doing business that you can enjoy.

Sasha Kore is the founder of the company Club of salon ownerswhere she works with beauty, esthetics, hair and clinic business owners across the UK to help them build more profitable, sustainable businesses and reclaim their time, energy and lives. Follow Sasha on Instagram @thesaloownersclub